FIFA cut World Cup ref following arrest for alleged sexual assault in UK

Sport|World Cup 2026FIFA cut World Cup ref following arrest for alleged sexual assault in UKFIFA ‘aware of serious allegation’ following UK arrest of match official who will now not be listed for World Cup.ListenListen (1 min)SaveClick here to share on social mediashare-nodesSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoFIFA's 2025 World Cup football tournament is being hosted this summer by the United States, Canada and Mexico [Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters]By The Associated PressPublished On 28 Apr 202628 Apr 2026A football match official who was a potential pick to work at the men’s World Cup in North America was arrested for an alleged sexual assault at a hotel while in Britain for a game.World Cup organiser FIFA said on Tuesday that it was “aware of the serious allegation”, after details of an alleged assault of a teenage boy were first reported by British daily The Sun.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What next for Manchester United with Champions League return almost sealed?list 2 of 4Atletico and Arsenal face-off as they dream of first Champions League titlelist 3 of 4Paris and Lyon prepare as Nice mayor opposes 2030 Olympics ice hockey venuelist 4 of 4Athletics great Allyson Felix aiming to compete at 2028 Los Angeles Gamesend of list“In the meantime, the match official will not be considered for any FIFA competition matches,” the football governing body said in a statement.FIFA published a list this month of 52 referees, 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials selected for the 104-game World Cup being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.The match official was not identified in reports, nor was the European competition game he was working at for UEFA.“We are monitoring the situation with great concern and will continue to follow developments closely,” UEFA said.UEFA added that it also will not be selecting the official for its games, and the alleged incident was part of “an active investigation”.The Sun reported that the Metropolitan Police in London released a man in his 30s on bail.

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